A federal judge approved a settlement resolving the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed at UC Davis in 2011.

U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez on Wednesday gave the final approval for the $1 million settlement, initially filed in September.

As part of the settlement, the university has agreed to pay $30,000 to each of the 21 plaintiffs, a total of $250,000 to their attorneys and a total of $100,000 to 15 other claimants.

The settlement also stipulates that UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi issue a formal written apology to the students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed. It also calls for the university to develop new policies regarding student demonstrations and use of force.

In the very same week...

• A military judge agreed that U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning's pre-trial confinement, for having allegedly leaked classified diplomatic cables, was excessively harsh, but refused to dismiss the charges against him. Instead, the judge reduced 4 months from Manning's potential life sentence that he hasn't even received yet while being jailed for 2 years and 8 months, so far, waiting for his day in military court. The judge also delayed the start of his trial for another 3 months in the bargain.

• Britain's largest bank, HSBC, was slapped on the wrist with a $1.9 billion settlement (a few weeks of profit) for having knowingly laundered billions of dollars for drug cartels and terrorist organizations and rogue states after federal prosecutors in the U.S. decided that any harsher punishment --- such as larger fines or taking them to court or, God forbid, sending any single one of their employees or board members to prison for even a day --- would potentially result in bankruptcy for the "too big to jail" international bank.

And, a few weeks before that...

• Oil giant BPpleaded guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter and other criminal charges related to the massive oil spill and deaths of 11 men on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. They agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines (they made more than that in profit alone in the third quarter of 2012) over a five year period. Nobody would face any jail time in the settlement.

Yet, all the while...

• NRA stooges continued to pretend that their big bad assault weapons are responsible for keeping this country safe from big government tyranny.

What the fuck is wrong with this picture, those people, this Administration, our Dept. of Justice, and this country?

I think if the NRA people were serious about defending against "tyranny" they would have supported the Occupy movement. A lot of conservatives seem to think "tyranny" can only come from the federal government. But I think that finance has undue influence on the feds. But a lot of conservatives only think the feds can corrupt the private sector. They don't believe the private sector can corrupt the government.

The cry of, “They’re coming for your guns,” is blaring from the usual pack of fear mongers. Yet there is nothing happening now but talk, and that is mostly the public safety issue of limiting access to certain weapons and accessories. We’ve had that before and no one lost their right to own weapons. While I’m sure they want to drown out these discussions, I’m wondering if “gun control” is replacing abortion and gays as a wedge issue.

After reading your article I went back and reread Dr Lawrence Britt’s 14 Key Points of Fascism. (Dr. Lawrence Britt examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes and found 14 defining characteristics common to each.)

Not one of these 14 points mentioned guns. However, the tyrannies you point out are among the many that do fit into these 14 points.

I believe we have a lot of immediate threats to our freedoms, but having our guns confiscated is not one of them.